The Vietnam Gas Association has recommended the Ministry of Finance cut theimport tax on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the current 5 percent to 2percent to force domestic LPG traders to drop their retail prices, said theassociation’s chairman Nguyen Si Thang.
Thang said that the current 5percent tax rate was bought in a decade ago when a tonne of LPG cost 200 USD.Today, a tonne of LPG cost boughly 790USD.
Thang explained that the 5percent tax rate was considered reasonable when the country had to import allits LPG but now, it import only half of the LPG demand.
Meanwhile, domesticLPG producers still price their product in line with the import LPG plus the 5percent import tax.
“This means the price of LPG on the domestic marketis too high and unreasonable, affecting consumers’ interest,” Thang explained.
If the approval is ratified, domestic LPG traders will have to cut theirretail prices to match the drop in the price of imported LPG, helping consumersto enjoy a more reasonable price frame, Thang said.
The country consumesan average of 950,000 tonnes of LPG percent, with roughly 50 percent of thetotal produced domestically at the country’s only LPG plant in southern BaRia-Vung Tau province. The country imports the remainder mainly fromneighbouring China .
PetroVietnam forecasts that the country’s LPGdemand will rise by more than 50 percent to 1.2-1.3 million tonnes per year bythe end of 2010. It said additional demand will then double to 2.4 milliontonnes per year by 2020, with domestic supply covering roughly 1.8 milliontonnes of the total./.
Thang said that the current 5percent tax rate was bought in a decade ago when a tonne of LPG cost 200 USD.Today, a tonne of LPG cost boughly 790USD.
Thang explained that the 5percent tax rate was considered reasonable when the country had to import allits LPG but now, it import only half of the LPG demand.
Meanwhile, domesticLPG producers still price their product in line with the import LPG plus the 5percent import tax.
“This means the price of LPG on the domestic marketis too high and unreasonable, affecting consumers’ interest,” Thang explained.
If the approval is ratified, domestic LPG traders will have to cut theirretail prices to match the drop in the price of imported LPG, helping consumersto enjoy a more reasonable price frame, Thang said.
The country consumesan average of 950,000 tonnes of LPG percent, with roughly 50 percent of thetotal produced domestically at the country’s only LPG plant in southern BaRia-Vung Tau province. The country imports the remainder mainly fromneighbouring China .
PetroVietnam forecasts that the country’s LPGdemand will rise by more than 50 percent to 1.2-1.3 million tonnes per year bythe end of 2010. It said additional demand will then double to 2.4 milliontonnes per year by 2020, with domestic supply covering roughly 1.8 milliontonnes of the total./.
